Jug closure



March 27, 1962 A. J. HUcK Re. 25,146

JUG cLosURE Original Filed Feb. 29, 1960 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 /N VE N TOR.'

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ATTORNEYS.

A. J. HUCK JUG CLOSURE March 27, 1962 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Original FiledFeb. 29, 1960 /N VENT OR.' M

ATTORNEYS.

United States Patent O 25,146 JUG CLOSURE Alfred J. Huck, St. Louis,Mo., assignor to Knapp-Monarch Company, St. Louis, Mo., a corporation ofDela- Ware Original No. 2,978,133, dated Apr. 4, 1961, Ser. No.

11,678, Feb. 29, 1960. Application for reissue May 29, 1961, Ser. No.115,857

11 Claims. (Cl. 21S- 13) Matter enclosed in heavy brackets [j] appearsin the original patent but forms no part of this reissue specification;matter printed in italics indicates the additions made by reissue.

This invention relates to jug closures and more particularly toautomatic venting closures for insulated liquid containing jugs havingdischarge spouts or spigots.

One object of the invention is to provide a jug cap that is threadedonto a jug neck in the conventional manner, but is novel in .that it hasa hollow upwardly-opening section or socket that serves two purposes,rst to co-ntain a vent hole which is closed whenever a drinking cup ispositioned in the socket, and second to provide in conjunction with thedrinking cup a good additional thermal insulation for the jug in `thearea where it is very much needed, at the top where thermal losses occurmore than from any other part of the jug.

Another object is to provide a two-piece cap representing a minimumnumber of simple-to-rnanufacture parts, that provides `a spill-proofseal for the jug and provides the desired additional thermal insulationin the top area of the jug in addition to providing automatic venting.

Still another object is to provide an arrangement wherein the user, uponremoving the cup to take a drink automatically exposes a vent hole inthe cap to permit flow of air from the outside of the jug through thevent hole to the liquid contained in the jug so that free ow thereofoccurs through either a spigot or spout into the drinking cup. Thus, itis merely necessary for the user to remove the drinking cup, and therebyllow of air through the vent hole of the jug cap is automatically had.

A further object -is to provide a depressed plastic jug cap whichconstitutes a sealing member that need not be removed when the jug islbeing used to supply liquid therefrom, the opening of the vent holeeliminating the possibility of vacuum interfering with ow of liquid fromthe jug.

Still a further object is to provide the cap with inter-nai ribs and thevent hole located, preferably but not necessarily, in one of the ribs soas to permit the escape of entrained air between the cup -and thesealing cap when replacing the cup in the cap.

In insulated jugs thermal leakage occurs principally at the closure areaof the jug and accordingly a maximum of insulating properties are highlydesirable at this point to secure maximum efficiency of the insulatedcontainer. v

An additional object of my invention is to provide a metal or plasticdrinking cup in association with the customary jug cap and so placed asto provide an air space for -this purpose between it and the jug capproper. Because the cup in place produces a vacuum formed inside the jugwhen liquid is removed, 4a practical means of breaking this vacuum andpermitting the ingress of air is needed to establish a flow of liquidfrom the jug. I accomplish this when the drinking cup is taken from itspositionlin the cap and automatically opens a vent hole to provideproper venting for full liquid flow.

With these and other objects in view, my invention consists in theconstruction, arrangement and combination of the various parts of my jugclosure, whereby the objects `above contemplated are attained, ashereinafter more fully set forth, pointed out in my claims andillustrated in detail on the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. l is a side elevation of an insulated jug with my jug closureapplied thereto;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of FIG. 1 with the upper portion of the jug handlebroken away;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged vertical sectional view on the line 3-3 of FIG. 2showing my novel jug closure with the drinking cup in position in thejug cap;

FIG. 4 is a similar sectional view of la portion of FIG. 3 showing thecup removed and the vent hole in the cap thereby automatically opened;

FIG. 5 is 'an exploded perspective view of the jug cap and the drinkingcup per se; Y

FIG 6 is a plan view of the jug cap at the scale shown in FIG. 3 landshows a modified construction.

FIG. 7 is a vertical sectional view similar .to FIG..3 and showing themodified construction of FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is an enlarged vertical sectional view on the line 8 8 of FIG. 7;and

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of the jug cap shown in FIGS. 6 and 7.

On the accompanying drawings, I have used the reference numeral 10 -toindicate the outer shroud of an insulated jug, 12 the inner liningthereof, and 13 the neck of the jug, which parts may be formed of sheetmetal or the like. The neck 13 has a thread 14 formed therearound in theusual manner. Insulating material 15 is packed in the space between theshroud 10 and the liner 12 whereby an insulated jug is formed, va rubberor neoprene joint 16 being provided between the upper end of the liner12 and the upper end of the neck 13 to minimize heat transmission. Theupper end of the liner 12 is formed into -an annular bead 17 for closurepurposes as will hereinafter appear.

A closure or jug cap C1 is provided which is preferably formed ofinsulating material, although it may be formed of metal if desired. Asillustrated, it is molded in one piece to a shape that has an annulartop wal-l 18, a depending ilange 20 provided with screw threads 22 tocoact with the threads 14 formed on the jug neck 13, a socket at thecenter having a bottom wall 24 and a cylindrical wall 26, and a slightlytapered or cone-sh-aped wall portion 28 to coact with the annular bead17 for closure purposes when the cap C1 is threaded tightly onto theneck 14 to the position illustrated in FIG. 3. The slight taper of theWall portion 28 may be only that required for mold draft such as 1/2 to3.

I provide a drinking cup C2 also preferably molded as a single member ofplastic material having a top wall 30, a depending cylindrical wall 32and an upper ange 34 for convenience in grasping :the cup C2 to removeit from the cap C1.

The wall 32 is tapered in cross section as illustrated in FIG. 3 asusually required for draw from a molding die, and the wall 26 of the capC1 is similarly cone-shaped, the inner surface of the wall 26 and theouter surface of the wall 32 being at the same angle with respect to theaxis of the capy and cup for a substantially` air-tight contact when thecup is positioned in the cap with the ange 34 limiting the inwmdmovement.

The cylindrical wall 26 of the cap C1 is provided with a vent opening 36which is automatically closed by the wall 32 in the position of theparts kas shown in FIG. 3, and this is a very desirable feature of myinvention in that it provides a vent which is automatically sealed whenthe cup C2 is in the stored position relative to the cap C1 and the jugis not in use. When it is desirable for the user to get a drink from thejug, however, he removes the cup C2 which automatically opens the vent36 as shown in FIG. 4 yand the user may then ll the cup from a spigot 38which is normally closed and provided with la'push button for opening inthe usual manner (or in place of the spigot 3S there may be a spout witha removable cork or cap associated therewith). In either event it isnecessary to vent the upper portion of the jug to atmosphere in order tosecure full flow of liquid from the spigot or spout and this -isautomatically accomplished by the vent 36 placed as indicated and thusautomatically opened when the cup C2 is removed, and again automaticallyclosed when the cup C2 is replaced. At the same time the cup provides an-air space Within the cap for further insulating efliciency at the topof the jug where most thermal leakage occurs.

Due to the air space within the cup C2, air is trapped when the `cup isplaced therein in the cap` C1, but may be readily eliminated by Ithemodified construction shown in FIGS. 6 to 9 inclusive. In these guresthe same reference numerals have been applied and additionally the innersurface of the cylindrical portion 26 of the cap C1 is povided Withvertical ribs 4i), 42 and 44 which hold the cylindrical wall 32 of thecup member C2 spaced from the inner surface of the cylindrical wall Z6-as shown in FIG. 8. The vent 36 is then preferably placed in one of theribs such as 40 so as to be closed by the wall 32 when the cup is instored position 4as shown in FIG. 7.

Some changes may :be made in the construction and arrangement of theparts of my jug closure without departing from the real spirit andpurpose of my invention, and it is my intention to cover by my claimsany modified forms of structure or use of mechanical equivalents whichmay reasonably be included within their scope.

I claim `as my invention:

l. In a jug closure, a jug cap having provisions for screwing the sameon the neck of a jug, said cap having a depressed socket in its uppersurface, and a 4cup normally received in said socket, the wall ofsaidsocket having a vent opening therethrough, said cup snugly fittingsaid wall and thereby normally closing said vent opening whereby removalof the cup automatically exposes said vent opening to atmosphere.

2. in a jug closure, a jug cap having provisions for screwing the sameon the neck of a jug, said cap having a depressed socket in its uppersurface, and a cup normally received in said socket, the wall of saidsocket having a vent opening therethrough, said socket having a slightlycone-shaped cylindrical wall, said cup having a cylindrical wall ofcomplementary shape to snugly tit therein and thereby iclose said ventopening when therein, and said cup having an upper ange overlying themarginal edge of said cap when the cup is stored in the cap.

3. In a jug closure, Va jug cap having provisions for screwing the sameon the neck of a jug, said cap having a socket, and a cup normallyreceived in said socket, the wall of said socket having a vent openingtherethrough, sa-id socket having a slightly cone-shaped cylindricalwall, and said cup having a cylindrical wall of complementary shape tosnugly lit therein and thereby automatically close said vent openingwhen therein and automatic-ally open said vent opening when removedtherefrom for use.

4. ln a jug closure, a jug cap having provisions for 4 permit the escapeof cntrapped air when said cup is telescoped into said cap.

5. ln a jug closure, a jug cap having provisions for screwing the sameon the neck of a jug, said cap having a depressed socket depending fromthe upper wall thereof, and a cup normally received in said socket, theWall of said socket having a vent opening therethrough, said cupnormally closing said vent opening whereby removal of the cup exposesthe vent opening to atmosphere, the inncr surface of said socket havinga plurality of ribs for spacing .the outer surface of said cup from saidinner surface to permit the escape of entrapped air when said cup istelescoped into said cap, said vent opening being located in one of saidribs.

6. ln a jug closure, a jug cap having provisions for screwing the sameon the neck of a jug, said cap having a depressed socket in its uppersurface, and a cup normally received in said socket, the wall of saidsocket having a vent opening therethrough, said socket having aconeshaped cylindrical wall, said cup having a cylindrical wall ofcomplement-ary shape to snugly t therein, the linner surface of saidsocket having a plurality of ribs for spacing ythe outer surface of saidcup from said inner surface to permit the escape of entrapped air whensaid cup is positioned in said cap, said vent opening being located inone of said ribs.

[7. In `a jug closure, a jug cap having provisions for screwing the sameon the neck of a jug, said cap having a depressed socket depending fromthe upper wall thereof, and a cup adapted to be received in said socket,the Wall of said socket having a vent opening normally closed by saidcup and opened by the removal of the cup therefrom] [8. In a jugclosure, a jug cap having provisions for screwing the same on the neckof a jug, said cap having a socket, the wall of which has a vent openingtherethrough, and a cup received in said socket and normally closingsaid vent opening whereby removal of the cup exposes the vent opening toatmosphere] 9. In a jug closure, a jug cap having provisions forsecuring the same on the neck of d jug, said cap having o vent openingtherethrough, and a cup` in telescopzng and selectively readilyseparable storage relation with sold jug cap, and said cup cooperatingwith said cup when said cup is normally in stored relation with Said capfor normally closing said vent opening, and whereby selective removal ofthe cup lfrom stored relation with said cap exposes the vent opening toatmosphere.

70. In n jug closure, a jug cap having provisions for securing the sameon the neck of a jug, sold cap having n vent opening therethrough, a cupof o size and shape related to the size and shape of the cop to permit0j a telescopng and selectively readily separable storage associationbetween portions of said cup and cap, and said cup when in Suid normaltelescoping storage association with said cap operating to normallyclose said vent opening, whereby selective separation of snz'd cup fromstoroge association with said cap exposes the vent opening toatmosphere.

l1. In a jug closure, a jug cop having provisions for securing the sumeon the neck of a jug, said cup having cop woll means with d vent openingtherethrough, a cup having cup wall means adapted for readily separablebut substantially or-tight Contact with said cap wall means hctving thevent opening therethrough, and said cap and cup being arranged in dtelescoping and selectively readily separable storage relationship withsaid cup normally closing solo' vent opening, whereby selectiveseparation of said cup from said storage relation with cap exposes thevent Opening' to atmosphere.

IZ. In a jug closure, n jug cap having provisions for screwing the sameon the neck of a jug, said cap having a depressed socket depending fromthe upper wall thereof, and a cup adapted to be selectively separdblyreceived 6 i and stored in said socket, the wall of said socket havinging whereby selective removal of the cup exposes the a vent openingnormally closed by said cup and opened vent opening to atmosphere. bythe selective removal of the cup therefrom.

13. In a jug closure, a jug cap having provisions for References Citediq (he file Of thiS Patent screwing the same on the neck of a jug, saidcap having 5 01' the Ol'lgllal Patent a socket, the wall of which has avent opening there- UNITED STATES PATENTS through, and a cup selectivelyseparably received and 2,940,107 Y Sterling June 14 1960 stored in saidsocket and normally closing said vent open-

